Tuesdays With Dorie: Granola Energy Bars January 13, 2015

This weeks Tuesdays With Dorie recipe is from Baking Chez Moi, it is the Granola Energy Bars.  This recipe came at a great time for me because I am actually trying to eat pretty healthy right now.  I did have to modify the recipe slightly because I wanted it to be vegan and then we had an incident with the Brown Rice Syrup.

I used the nuts and seeds that the recipe called for: pumpkin seeds raw, sunflower seeds raw and slivered almonds raw.  For the dried fruit I stuck with stuff that I like: dried cranberries and golden raisins, and used unsweetened coconut.  When I opened my Brown Rice Syrup it looked okay and then I smelled it and it smelled off.  I have a tendency to smell stuff to check to make sure it is okay.  Well when I looked closer, I noticed that there was small specks of mold growing in it.  I ended up throwing out the Brown Rice Syrup and I used Golden Syrup instead.  I also used coconut oil instead of the butter, hence vegan 🙂

The recipe actually came together really easy.  The hard part was waiting the 3 hours for it to cool in the pan before I could sample the bars.  Once they had cooled, I cut them, and sampled them. Then my youngest Bogarted my piece, like she usually does with food.  The granola bars and awesome.  I love the crunch and the slight sweetness.  I do eat them over the sink because they tend to make a mess, but a plate can also solve this problem.  I will definitely be making these again.

Vegan Coconut Yogurt and Granola September 24, 2013

My first shot at making Yogurt in our dehydrator and I am making Vegan Coconut Milk Yogurt. The process was actually very simple and I used multiple sources (Waking Up Vegan, Vegan Guinea Pig, Vegan Cookbook Aficionado, and Excalibur Dehydrator – NOT VEGAN, used to figure out how to use dehydrator) to come up with a recipe.

For the Coconut Milk in the recipe I ended up using the big carton in the refrigerated section at the grocery store, well it worked but it had no flavor. So I advise you to use the canned coconut milk that has the least amount of ingredients added to it. You will get a better flavor. Also, I might have to experiment with the amount of Agar Powder because I used 1.5 tsp and it was WAY too much. It thickened just a little too much, more like the consistence of a jello. I think next time I will use 1 tsp and see what happens.

The Granola recipe is actually one of my favorites and it is from Alton Brown. It is very simple, happens to be Vegan, and is VERY tasty.

Coconut Milk Yogurt

32 oz Coconut Milk (4 cups)
1.5 tsp agar powder (should have used 1 tsp)
2 Tbsp sugar
1 cup coconut milk yogurt w/ active cultures

Sterilize jars and lids that you will be storing the yogurt in.

In a large pot whisk the agar powder into 2 cups of coconut milk until dissolved.
Heat the pot of coconut milk over low to medium heat until the temperature reaches 180 to 190 F. Remove from the heat and cool to 115 F/46 C.
Add in 1 cup of yogurt and sugar to cooled milk.
Pour mixture into containers and cover. Incubate in the dehydrator at 115 F/46 C for 5 hours.
Do not disturb, bump, open door or move while yogurt is incubating. When finished, refrigerate. Before serving, add flavors or fresh fruit.

Granola
Source: Good Eats: The Early Years by Alton Brown, page 264

Ingredients
10 oz Rolled Oats
4.5 oz Slivered almonds
5 oz Raw Cashews
1.5 oz Unsweetened Shredded Coconut
3 oz Dark Brown Sugar
3/4 tsp Kosher Salt
3 oz Maple Syrup
2 oz Vegetable Oil (I used Coconut Oil – melted)
4 oz Raisins or other dried fruit (I omitted these)

1) Heat oven to 250 F.
2) Combine the oats, nuts, coconut, brown sugar, and salt in a large bowl.
3) Measure the syrup and oil into a plunger cup. Add to the dry mixture and stir to combine.
4) Transfer the mixture to a half sheet pan and bake on the middle rack of the oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes to achieve an even color.
5) Remove from the oven and transfer to a large bowl and cool for 30 minutes. Add the raisins and mix until evenly distributed. Store in an airtight container and enjoy for up to 2 weeks.

Daring Bakers’ Challenge: Panna Cotta and Florentine Cookies February 28, 2011

The February 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mallory from A Sofa in the Kitchen. She chose to challenge everyone to make Panna Cotta from a Giada De Laurentiis recipe and Nestle Florentine Cookies.

I actually made the Panna Cotta at the beginning of the month for my birthday dessert.  I made the chocolate version and then layered it with Raspberry Gelee.  It turned out fantastic.  It took some time to get the layers to set so that I was able to layer it correctly, but it turned out beautifully.  I loved the flavor of the chocolate and the raspberry together.

With regard to the Florentine Cookies, well I slacked a little and they are currently cooling on the counter waiting to be filled with melted chocolate, yummy.  Once those are finished I will update this post.  I planned to do all of this yesterday but we decided to visit a couple of Baby stores to get an idea of what we want to get for our little symbiote 🙂

The Florentine Cookies were very yummy.  I kept a few in the house and Mike took the rest to work where they disappeared very quickly.  So I would say that that recipe is a success and very easy to make 🙂

Tuesdays With Dorie: Chocolate Oatmeal Drop February 16, 2011

Why is it that I will make the recipe, eat a few, and then not post?

I guess part of it was that I still haven’t taken a picture, which I will get around to and just add to the post.

So, this weeks Tuesdays With Dorie was chosen by Caroline and Claire of Bake With Us.  They picked Dorie’s Chocolate Oatmeal Drops which are located on page 75 in Baking: From My Home to Yours.  I loved this recipe for 2 reasons: 1) VERY easy to make, and 2) It had chocolate 🙂

These cookies came together very easily.  I decided to only make 1/2 a recipe because I was being greedy with my butter.  I knew a full batch would sit around the house way too long since we are still working on two cakes and other sweet items from my birthday on Monday 🙂  These cookies are definitely a winner.  The first thing that I noticed while they were baking is the hint of cinnamon amongst the chocolate.  Which is exactly how they taste.  When you first bite into the cookie you get that hint of cinnamon then you taste a deep chocolate flavor.  At the end of the cookie you get a slight nuttiness from the oats and then get a nice salt bite.  Mike’s reaction was that they were good and you need a glass of milk with them 🙂

Tuesdays With Dorie: Great Grains Muffins February 1, 2011

This weeks Tuesdays with Dorie was chosen by Christine of Happy Tummy.  She picked Dorie’s Great Grains Muffins which are located on pages 8-9 in Baking: From My Home to Yours.

Holy Crap!!! I actually have all the ingredients I need…well sans prunes, but I have plenty of other dried fruits (cranberries, cherries, blueberries, apricots, orange flavored cranberries, golden raisins, etc.)  Now I just need to decide which dried fruit to go with.

At first, I was stuck on apricots and then at the last moment I decided to go with cranberries.  I decided to put an entire cup of cranberries in because who doesn’t want plenty of cranberries in their muffins.  I only changed two other things about the recipe, 1) I sprinkled the tops of the muffins with sugar, and 2) I baked these at 350°F for 20 -25 minutes.  I changed the baking time and temperature because lately when I have baked any muffins at 400°F they got WAY too brown on the bottoms.  So I opted to be on the safe side, and they turned on fantastic.

I ate one of the muffins after it had cooled for a couple of minutes and it was still warm and yummy.  The addition of the sugar on top gave it a nice sweet crunch and the dried cranberries added a nice tartness.  With all the grains in the muffin the only one that stood out to me was the cornmeal because it gave the muffin a nice nutty crunch on the outside, reminiscent of a piece of cornbread.  I will definitely be making these muffins again 🙂

Tuesdays With Dorie: Chockablock Cookies April 27, 2010

This weeks Tuesdays with Dorie was chosen by Mary of Popsicles and Sandy Feet.  She chose Dorie’s Chockablock Cookies which are located on page 86 in Baking: From My Home to Yours.  I guess you could consider this cookie a throw all cookie…as in you throw a bunch of random yummy stuff in the batter (dried fruit, coconut, oats, chocolate, nuts, etc.) and bake it up 🙂

I have to hurry up and write this entry because I need to leave for work in 30 minutes.  I baked up these little monsters in the oven this afternoon, and the last batch just made its way out of the oven.  For the filling I ended up using golden raisins, coconut, oats, chocolate chips, and hazelnuts.

Why hazelnuts?

They were sitting in my freezer and I needed to use them.

Before baking, the molasses flavor was very prominent in the batter, but after they came out of them oven I couldn’t even taste the molasses.  All I could taste was the wonderful combination of hazelnuts and chocolate.  These giant cookies reminded me of a high ended oatmeal raisin cookie with the added yumminess of hazelnuts and chocolate.  I am sure Mike will grab one of these off the counter when he gets home and not even realize that they have coconut in them 🙂

Thank you for picking these this week Mary.  They were quick and easy to make and they were yummy 🙂

Peach Oat Scones August 8, 2008

While flipping through my Dorie Greenspan cookbook, Baking: From My Home to Yours, I found a scone recipe that caught my eye because it had old fashion oats in it. Back when I was in college I used to go to a family owned coffee shop that made all of their baked goods. I use to always get a peach oat scone and peppermint tea. I could sit in that coffee shop for hours and just people watch. I have not been back to my old stomping grounds for over a year now, and I really miss those scones.

As soon as I saw this recipe I had some hope, that maybe just maybe I could have them again.